Horse-collar.



. PATENTED JULY 14, 1908. B.-L. SILL.

HORSE COLLAR. .APPLIOATION HLED JULY 24.1907.

A E mum WITNESSES.- OWE/wok,

' ATTORNEYS.

EDWARD L. sun or BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

IIQ SE QLLAB- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed m 24, 1907. Serial No. 385,367.

Patented July 14, 1908.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, EDwAnD L. SILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Horse-Collar, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates generally to horse collars, and more particularly to that class employing pneumatic cushioning elements.

The object of'the invention is toimprove the manner of combining the air cushion or tube with the collar sections, to sim lify and chea en the construction of the colaras a whoe, and to provide a novel form of fastener for holding'the two sections of the collars assembled at the throat.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in'the novel construction and combination of parts of a horse collar as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a horse collar constructed in'accordance with the present invention, portions thereof being broken away for purposes of clearness of illustration. Fig. 2 is' a perspective detail View of the upper'portion of the collar. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view displayingone form of hame holder. Fig. 4 is a similar view of another form of hame holder. is a transverse sectional view on an enlar ed scale through the throat portion of the co lar exhibiting one form of locking means for holding the collar sections assembled. Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, of a modified form of locking mechanism.

The collar, as usual, is constructed of two sections, 1 and 2, which are made preferably of sheet metal stamped or otherwise shaped to the appropriate form, the upper or neck portions of the sections being connected by a curved bridge-plate 3 which is pivotally connected at 4 to the said sections. The lower or throat ortion of each collar section has secured wit in it a filler block 5 and 6, res ectively, the filler block 5 bein provided wit two slightly tapered outward y-projecting bolts 7, each of which is formed in its u per face with a recess 8 that is adapted to e enga ed by a latch 9 carried by the block 6. This atch comprises a head that is orificed for the reception of the bolts, a shank 10 that projects through an opening provided in the block for the purpose, and a head 11 that is designed normally to lie flush with the outer surface of the section 1, a spring 12 interosed between the inner wallof the socket 13 1n the block 6, and the head 11 serving normally to retain the latch in engagement with the bolts, as clearly shown in Fig. 5. To release the collar sections in order to permit them to be spread apart for removing or positioning the collar, it will only be necessary to press the head 11 inward, whereupon the latchwill bemoved out of engagement with the bolts and the collar sections will then be free to be moved to the osition shown in Fig. 2. 'To effect the locking together of the sections it will only be necessary to brin them together-and exert suflicient inward pressure to overcome the resistance of the spring 12.

Each of the sections 1 and 2 is provided with inward turned flanges 14 that are adaptedto be engaged by flaps or kee ers 15 carried by a leather sheath or shiel 16, the coaction between the flaps and flanges being such as to cause the sheath to be retained in position, but at the same time to ermit of 1ts ready removal when desired. s shown in Fig. 1, theu per ends of the sheath overlap at the nec portion of the collar at 17, thereby to resent a smooth surface to the animals nec Arranged within the sections 1 and 2 and the sheath is a canvas sack or holder 18 in which is disposed the pneumatic tube 19, the tube and the sack being sha ed to conform practically to the contour o the collar sections. One end of the tube 19 is provided with a valve 20 that rojects through an orifice in the filler blocli 5 and carries a head or ca 21 by which it is closed. This valve may e such as is usually employed on pneumatic tires forpreventing the escape of air, and as this construction is well known detailed illustration thereof is deemed unnecessary. When the tube is to be filled it will only be necessary to release the latch 9, sep arate the collar section, remove the cap 21 and inflate the tube 19 with an ordinary bicycle pump.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 1, each of the sections 1 and 2 is provided with a tug hook 22 of the usual or any preferred character, and with this arrangement hames will not be employed in connection with the collar, but should it be desired to adapt the collar for use with hames, in addition to the tug hooks, a metallic guttered hame holder 23 will be riveted or otherwise. secured to each of the sections adjacent to its ward as far as may be necessary. Instead of employing continuous structures as shown in Fig.1, the hame holders may be made in sections 24, as shown in Fig. 4, and be riveted or otherwise secured to the sections 1 and 2.

In assembling the different parts of the collar, the tube is first placed in the canvas bag and is then positioned in the sections 1 and 2, after which the sheath is assembled with the sections. The cap 21 of the valve 19 is removed and the tube is then inflated and as it expands it will press against the sheath and force it outward, whereby a yielding surface will always be presented to the animals neck wearing the collar.

The improvements herein defined are simple in character, will be found thoroughly efiicient and practical in use and may be readily applied to horse collars without requiring any expensive machinery for the purpose.

What is claimed is:-

A horse collar embodying two pivotally connected sections, a filler block carried by the lower or throat portion of each section, one of the blocks being provided with a bolt and the other with a socket to receive the EDWARD L. SILL.

Witnesses:

J AS. HERRON, J. A. NIooL. 

